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TLC: Tables, Ladders
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2013) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE, which took place on December 15, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston. It was the fifth annual TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event, and WWE's last pay-per-view event in 2013. The theme of the event is that the main event was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The main event saw WWE Champion Randy Orton defeat World Heavyweight Champion John Cena in a TLC match to unify the titles as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Production Background TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs is an annual gimmick pay-per-view, generally produced every December by WWE since 2009. The concept of the show is based on the primary matches of the card each containing a stipulation using tables, ladders, and chairs as legal weapons, with the main event generally being a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. 2013 was the fifth event under the TLC chronology. Storylines The professional wrestling matches at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The main rivalry heading into TLC featured the World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, and the WWE Champion Randy Orton, over who was the proverbial "face of the WWE". Ever since SummerSlam in August, Orton had been engaged in a feud with Daniel Bryan over the WWE Championship, and owing to his alliance with The Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon), finally settled his rivalry with Bryan at the Hell in a Cell event, defeating him in a Hell in a Cell match to win the WWE title for the eighth time. However, over time, The Authority started showing doubt over Orton's ability to win matches on his own accord. To prove he still was their chosen "face of the WWE", Orton was made to defend his championship against the anti-Authority Big Show at Survivor Series in November, who Orton defeated to retain his title, but only after Big Show was distracted by Triple H. Concurrently, Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series to retain his World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch from the Hell in a Cell event, where Cena returned from an elbow injury seemingly before schedule, yet still defeated Del Rio to win the title for the third time. After Orton's victory at Survivor Series, Cena came down to the ring with his title, and celebrated with the crowd as The Authority looked on, much to Orton's chagrin. The next night, on the November 25 episode of Raw, after another confrontation between the two world champions, Triple H announced that Orton would face Cena in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, with both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship on the line, at the TLC pay-per-view, with the winner becoming the "Champion of Champions". Another championship match at the TLC pay-per-view saw AJ Lee defending the WWE Divas Championship against Natalya. At Survivor Series, Natalya, along with Nikki Bella, were the "Survivors" after making AJ submit in a seven-on-seven Survivor Series elimination match between the "True Divas" and the Total Divas. On the December 2 episode of Raw, Natalya pinned AJ, to secure a victory for her team in a six-Diva tag team match. After this string of non-title wins, Natalya was officially announced to challenge AJ for the Divas Championship at the TLC event. Since late October, both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan had been assaulted by the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan), which led to a tag team match at Survivor Series in November with Punk and Bryan going up against - and defeating - Harper and Rowan. The next night, on the November 25 episode of Raw, Bryan was (kayfabe) "abducted" by the Wyatt Family, while Punk was ambushed by The Shield, another notorious three-man faction consisting of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. On the December 2 episode of Raw, Punk tried tracing back the reason for the attack on him to Triple H, believing he called for Punk to be taken out for the latter's rebellious comments against The Authority. After these allegations were rebuked by Triple H's wife, Stephanie McMahon, WWE's (kayfabe) Director of Operations, Kane, also came out to support The Authority, and after being insulted by Punk, announced a three-on-one handicap match at the TLC event, pitting Punk against all three members of The Shield. Also, on the same night, after defeating Erick Rowan, Bryan too was put in a three-on-one handicap match by Kane - much like Punk - to face all three members of the Wyatt Family at the TLC pay-per-view. Also, on the December 9 edition of Raw, Damien Sandow defeated Santino Marella to earn the right to face Big E Langston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at the TLC event. Also, on the December 13 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Cody Rhodes and Goldust would defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Real Americans (Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro), RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel), and Big Show and Rey Mysterio in a Fatal Four Way tag team match at the pay-per-view. The TLC Kickoff pre-show featured Fandango squaring off against Dolph Ziggler. This match was announced at the 2013 Slammy Awards edition of Raw on December 9, 2013. Kofi Kingston and The Miz teamed together to face The Real Americans on the October 21 episode of "Raw", but at the end of the match, Miz turned on Kingston. This led to a match on the Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show, which Miz won. The feud continued and culminated in a no disqualifications match between Kofi Kingston and the Miz at the TLC event. In December 2014, CM Punk revealed in his podcast interview with Colt Cabana that he requested the day of the event off to attend C. J. Wilson's wedding; however, the company failed to fulfill his request. As a result, his and his girlfriend at the time (now wife) AJ Lee's matches went first and second so they could leave on time and attend the wedding in California the same day. Aftermath The next night on Raw, The Authority celebrated Randy Orton's unification of the championships inside the ring, with the entire WWE locker room standing on the entrance ramp. John Cena proclaimed that since Orton won, his first title defense should be against Daniel Bryan, insisting that was the right thing to do. Orton refused, but The Authority said that Orton would, in fact, face Bryan in a non-title match later that night. Bryan went on to win that match via disqualification, which was caused by a blatant low-blow from Orton - right in front of the referee. Orton then continued to attack Bryan until Cena came out to aid Bryan. Orton scattered, but when Cena went to check on Bryan's condition, Orton reemerged, striking Cena with an RKO. The show ended with Orton standing triumphantly over his fallen foes with both titles raised overhead. On the December 30 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon announced that Cena would get his rematch against Orton at the Royal Rumble with no outside interference or added stipulations, which Orton won. Big Show and Rey Mysterio would face WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a non-title tag team match with Show and Mysterio emerging victorious. Fandango would face Dolph Ziggler in a rematch with Ziggler winning due to a Roll-up. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Category:TLC PPV Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2013 Pay-Per-View Events